#249 Dave McNally - Baltimore Orioles

David Arthur McNally
Baltimore Orioles
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  185
Born:  October 31, 1942, Billings, MT
Signed:  Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent, September 9, 1960
Major League Teams:  Baltimore Orioles 1962-1974; Montreal Expos 1975
Died:  December 1, 2002, Billings, MT (age 60)

Dave McNally was an All-Star left-handed pitcher, who pitched 13 seasons with the Orioles and helped his club win World Championships in 1966 and 1970.  McNally had a somewhat slow rise to the top, going 48-38 with a 3.57 ERA in 153 games between 1962 and 1967.  He started two of the four games won by the Orioles in the 1966 World Series in their sweep of the Dodgers, pitching a complete game shutout in the decisive Game 4.  He secured his first 20-win season in 1968, going 22-10 with a 1.95 ERA.  McNally followed that up with two more 20-win seasons in 1969 and 1970, earning trips to his first two (of three) All-Star Games.  1970 was to be his career year as he tied teammate Mike Cuellar (#337) with 24 wins.  He was 24-9 with a 3.22 ERA, finishing second in the Cy Young voting behind the Twins' Jim Perry (#351).  In the 1970 postseason, McNally threw two complete game victories in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Twins and in Game 3 of the World Series against the Reds.

Dealt to the Expos in the Ken Singleton deal in December 1974, McNally appeared in 12 games for the club before abruptly retiring following his final big league start on June 8, 1975.  In 424 games, McNally was 184-119 with a 3.24 ERA, 120 complete games and 33 shutouts.  He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1978, as the Hall's third ever inductee behind Brooks Robinson (#150) and Frank Robinson (#120).  McNally also earned a place on the Orioles All-Century team in 1999.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Cards Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #549

This is the 65th of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March.  We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room.  After our 51 card haul from Uncle Dick's, and with more card spending budget still in place, I set out to find another dealer with a binder of 1965 Topps cards with reasonable prices.  I had purchased cards from Sports Cards Plus before, finding the last few cards needed for our 1971 Topps set from this dealer back in December 2019.

Settling in, we found 37 commons, semi-stars and team cards needed for our set, including this McNally card, with the average price per card working out to around $6 a piece.  After paying for this mini haul, we were officially 13 cards away from a complete set, with one more purchase coming to end the day.

This was the last card needed for our set's third series, including cards #177 to #264.

The Card / Orioles Team Set
This is already McNally's third appearance in a Topps flagship set, and his rookie card can be found in the 1963 Topps set on a floating heads Rookie Stars card.  The back of the card highlights his high school basketball skills and his best pitch, a "sharp breaking curve ball."  McNally's big league debut came on September 26, 1962, and it would be his only appearance for the Orioles that season.  He limited the Athletics to just two hits and three walks in his complete game shutout, striking our four.  McNally hit a total of nine home runs during his career, and was a lifetime .133 batter (97 for 731) with 23 doubles and 43 RBIs.

1965 Season
McNally hadn't yet quite put it all together, and he was 11-6 with a 2.85 ERA for the Orioles in 35 appearances, including 29 starts.  He just missed crossing the 200 innings pitched plateau, throwing 198 2/3 innings.  He was the third best starter for the club behind Milt Pappas (#270) and Steve Barber (#113).

1963 Topps #562

1966 Topps #193

1970 Topps #20

1972 Topps #223

1975 Topps #26

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1963 Topps #562
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1963-1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2005 Upper Deck Classics #24

140 - McNally non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/6/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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